Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Batman was currently off-world on a mission with the Justice League, so the rest of the Batfamily decided to take Dick out as Robin for some field experience. It was supposed to be an easy night. If any bigger villains were reported, all but Kid Bat and Robin would go off to fight them.

But Murphy’s Law always was a bitch when it came to the Batfamily.

Redbat noticed some weird readings coming from the warehouse district of Gotham. Shadowbat was hesitant to bring Robin when they didn’t know what they were getting into, but his argument that he’d never learn if he didn’t experience any action was sound—not to mention that if it had been anyone big like Joker, they would have already known. Shadowbat had sighed and consented to let Robin come.

He was now regretting that.

When they had arrived in the warehouse district, the group immediately knew which warehouse the readings were coming from. The windows of the warehouse were lit up with blinding, blue light. Inside, they had found a man fiddling with a machine, ranting and raving about universes. He had caught sight of Kid Bat and panicked, pressing buttons on the machine that seemed to send it into overdrive. Before anyone could do anything, the machine exploded, incinerating the man and bathing everyone else in the warm, blue light. When their eyes cleared, they noticed that they were still in the warehouse.

“Is everyone all right?” Spoiler asked.

“Yes.” Batgirl was standing with Shadowbat.

“We’re all good.” Kid Bat threw a thumbs up at Spoiler. Redbat was shielding him, and Kid Bat was shielding Robin.

“We have no idea what that machine could have done to us. We need to head back to the Cave. Redbat—”

“Already on it.” Redbat was going to gather samples of the machine, but when he looked at where it had been, he realized it was gone. “Um, guys?”

Their eyes snapped to where Redbat was looking, and Shadowbat let out a curse. Either the machine had somehow disintegrated itself without leaving any kind of marking on the ground or walls…

...or they were not where they were supposed to be.

“The man was talking about parallel universes.” Redbat said, bringing a hand to his chin. “I think it’s safe to say that we might be in one.”

“Cool!” Kid Bat was grinning. “My first one!”

“Not cool.” Shadowbat growled. “We’re going to have to find a way home. It’s going to be much harder to do so without the machine.”

Kid Bat shrank back, frowning. Robin patted him on the shoulder.

“Be nice, Shadowbat.” Robin admonished petulantly. “We just gotta go back to the Batcave, right? We can get Batman to help us!”

“If this world even has a Batman.” Redbat muttered. Shadowbat sighed.

“We will make our way to the Batcave but be discreet. We do not want to draw attention to ourselves, especially if we are not heroes on this world.”

Robin pouted. “I don’t see why we wouldn’t be.”

“We may not be born yet.” Tim started ticking items off his fingers. “We may never have met Bruce. We could be evil...”

Robin frowned while Shadowbat let out another sigh. “We need to leave. Now would be appreciated.” He sent a look to Redbat, who held his hands up in surrender.

The Bats made their way through Gotham, though it was much slower than usual since they had to keep out of sight. They mostly skirted through alleyways, only using rooftops if they had to. They were just passing 53rd Street when Shadowbat suddenly held his hand up.

“What is it?” Robin whispered. Shadowbat peered at the buildings around them.

“Batgirl. Redbat. Take Kid Bat and Robin and hide.” Any protest was immediately silenced by a look from Shadowbat. He looked serious and, only a Bat could catch this, worried. Kid Bat and Robin immediately obeyed, hiding beneath some dumpsters with Batgirl and Redbat. “Spoiler, come to the roof with me.”

The two made their way up and stood at the edge of the roof, overlooking the rest of Gotham. Shadowbat could not see Spoiler’s face, but he could tell she was worried by the way her fists clenched. They were in an unknown world, and as the oldest, it was up to her and Shadowbat to take care of the others. Shadowbat rested a hand on her wrist, and Spoiler relaxed, only to stiffen again as they felt a presence land behind them. As one, they turned and found Batman staring back at them. Already though, they could tell that this Batman was different. He was radiating a darkness that not even their Batman could pull off. Shadowbat straightened and stepped forward.

“Stop.” Batman growled. Shadowbat did, narrowing his eyes to match Batman’s glare.

“I am Shadowbat, and this is Spoiler. We require your assistance.” Well, at least he was to the point.

Batman narrowed his eyes at the pair, trying not to show his surprise at the name ‘Spoiler’. He hadn’t heard that name in a while, and as far as he knew, Stephanie had not known anyone by Shadowbat during her time as Spoiler. Not to mention, there was something eerily familiar about the man, and not just because his costume was so similar to his own.

“What kind of assistance?"

“We believe we are from an alternate universe, though we cannot tell you how different it is. The machine that sent us here did not come with us, and we were unable to learn much about how it worked before it was destroyed.” Shadowbat kept his voice neutral. Even knowing that this was not his real father, he still couldn’t help the slight hurt he felt at Batman’s blatant distrust.

They were suddenly interrupted by another figure landing on the roof. Shadowbat sucked in a breath when the figure straightened, revealing a boy in a hooded Robin costume. He had never worn it in his life, but he would always recognize his child self.

“Holy shit.” Spoiler breathed. She’d recognize that glare anywhere.

“Batman, who are they?” Young Damian (Robin?) moved into a fighting stance, but Batman put a hand out to stop him. He had noticed the shock the two strangers felt, and it finally clicked with the man and Robin standing near each other.

“...Damian?” Robin snapped his head towards Batman, reading to snark about ‘no names in the field’, but then he realized that Batman wasn’t looking at him but at the man. His eyes widened when he realized what his father was implying.

Shadowbat nodded. “Hello, Father.”

Batman looked over at Spoiler. “...Stephanie?”

“The one and only.” Spoiler was smiling, but inside she was shocked. It was a little Damian! She was tempted to run over and hug him but had a feeling he (and Batman) wouldn’t appreciate it very much.

“I’ll take you back to the Cave, but I will be running tests just to be sure.” Shadowbat and Spoiler nodded, knowing they would do the same thing.

“Father, what is this about?” Robin wanted to know what was going on. Was there an older version of him in front of them?

“We have traveled from an alternate universe, and we need help getting home.” Shadowbat spoke directly to his younger self before turning back to Batman. He hesitated for a moment. “We were not the only ones to come through.”

“Who else?” Batman narrowed his eyes once more.

Shadowbat answered by pressed a finger to his ear. “It’s safe to come out now. Meet us on the roof.”

One by one, four other figures climbed onto the roof. If the younger Damian had had less control of himself, his jaw would have hit the ground. He recognized each person, but their ages were all wrong, not to mention their costumes. Only Cassandra’s seemed to be right.

“Hey!” The other boy dressed as Robin, Grayson , had shouted, pointing at Damian. “Why is he wearing my costume?”

Shadowbat sighed and rubbed at his head. It was going to be a long night.

Chapter Text

It was like looking into a funhouse mirror. The people across from them were undoubtedly themselves, but their shapes were all wrong. Richard and Jason were much too tall. Honestly, they all were, except for the young Damian, who appeared to be around eleven or twelve years old. It was wrong, and it set the older Damian on edge.

“Look! Look, Dami!” The younger Richard snapped Damian out of his thoughts. He was tugging on Damian’s pants and pointing to the people across from them. “Jay and I are so big ! And you’re small! Don’t I look cool? Look at my costume! It’s soo cool!” Richard made to run across the room to get a closer look, but Damian grabbed him and shoved him behind his legs.

“Richard, stay.” Richard pouted up at him but complied. He knew when to listen to Damian, even if the situation seemed safe enough.

The older Jason snorted, causing Damian to stiffen. There was something wrong with this Jason, something darker about him. The younger Jason seemed to realize the same thing and moved closer to Damian, eyeing his alternate self warily.

“So, uh…” Damian’s eyes snapped toward the older Richard—Nightwing, he had introduced himself as—who chuckled nervously. “This is pretty interesting, huh? I’ve definitely never dealt with an alternate universe where our ages are reversed. You guys?” He turned to his companions. Some of them ignored him while others—mainly older Jason and younger Damian—glared. “I’ll take that as a no.”

“I, for one, am enjoying seeing a younger Timmy again.” The older Stephanie grinned while the younger Stephanie laughed. Both Drakes frowned at their Stephanie.

The older Jason barked out a laugh, causing the younger Jason to jump. “Well, this has certainly been entertaining, but I think I’m gonna go now. I’ll see you losers later.”

“You’re leaving?” Richard stepped forward, stopping when Damian put a hand on his shoulder. He was looking up Jason questioningly, confused. “Why?”

The older Jason—Damian was going to refer to him as Todd because he didn’t deserve to be called by his first name, not like his brother—smirked at Richard, and Damian growled a warning. Todd ignored it. “Because, Richard , I don’t like this family, no matter how much Dickiebird tries to force us to get along.”

Richard opened his mouth to ask another question when Alfred walked into the Cave. “Master Jason, if you leave, you won’t get to enjoy the roasted lamb I’ve prepared. Of course, there are vegetarian options for those that want it.” He glanced at the two Damians.

Jason narrowed his eyes at Alfred. “Will there be rolls?”

“Of course, sir.” Alfred clasped his hands behind his back, his face neutral. The mention of food got Richard excited, and he started tugging on Damian’s hand. He was soon joined by Jason, who was just excited to eat.

“Come on, Dami! I’m starving ! Let’s go eat!” Damian allowed Richard and Jason to drag him.

“I would appreciate it if you would change into normal clothes first.” Alfred spoke again, stopping the boys. “I took the liberty of putting clothes that should more or less fit each of you in your guest rooms.”

Damian’s Stephanie let out a laugh and grabbed Tim and Cass’s hands, leading them to the elevator. Jason and Richard followed quickly behind, dragging Damian with them

“Thank you, Alfred!” Richard shouted. They all squeezed into the elevator and made their way up, leaving the other universe’s Batfamily alone.

“This is going to be really weird.” Tim noted, staring after their alternate selves.

“I think it’s going to be fun.” Dick grinned and bounded off towards the changing room. The others groaned but followed after him. They weren’t going to leave Alfred waiting.

Dinner was about as awkward as everyone thought it would be. The younger Richard had insisted on nicknames so that people wouldn’t get confused. His suggestions of ‘Dami’ and ‘Timmy’ were immediately shot down, but Jason was okay with ‘Jay’, Stephanie ‘Steph’, and Cassandra ‘Cass’. Richard had decided to stick with ‘Richard’, knowing that Damian would never call him ‘Dick’. The older Damian had decided that he would refer their alternate selves by their last names. He refused to use such ridiculous nicknames for his siblings. Dinner was mostly sat in silence with Richard and Grayson periodically trying to start a conversation, but it all fell apart when the younger Damian opened his mouth.

“What I don’t understand is why Father would even take in the rest of you. He had me first, so he wouldn’t need the rest of you.”

A fork clattered on a plate, causing everyone’s heads to snap toward the sound. Richard had dropped his fork, but he didn’t seem to notice as he stared at the younger Damian, hurt clear on his face. His lip wobbled, and he was suddenly racing out of the room. Damian and his siblings stood

“Timothy. Jason. Go after him.”

“No!” Jason glared at Damian. “I got words for that brat! He can’t just say that!”

“Jason!” Damian growled. Jason stood his ground.

“Um, guys?” Tim stepped between them. “Dick’s run off? We need to deal with that now.”

Damian narrowed his eyes at Jason. Jason didn’t move. “...Fine. Cassandra, you go with Timothy. Find him quickly.”

Tim and Cass quickly ran out of the dining room, leaving the remaining three Bats to glare at the younger Damian. He simply stared back, raising his chin.

“You are the youngest, and have obviously not been with Batman long. I was once like you, so I will forgive some of your behavior, but do not ever speak that way again. They are my family, and as much as I loathe them sometimes, I have come to appreciate them. If you are as smart as I would hope you to be, you will as well.”

“Yeah! Nobody gets to talk to us like that ‘cept our Damian, and even he’s not that mean! You got a lotta nerve to say that to us.” Jason stuck his tongue out at the younger Damian. The older Damian would sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose, but now was not the time.

“You better apologize to our brother once we find him. It took us forever to get him to believe that we wanted him. Don’t ruin it.” Stephanie would have poked his chest for emphasis, but she had a feeling the younger Damian would attack her if she did. She strode out of the room, intending to catch up with Tim and Cass to find Dick. Damian and Jason threw one last glare at the younger Damian before following after her.

Everyone sat in silence for a moment before Jason let out a whistle. “You sure fucked up this time, Demon Brat.”

“Shut up, Todd!” Damian snapped. He felt chided and embarrassed, not that he was going to admit it to everyone. He had thought that his older self would agree with him, but obviously that had not been the case. He wondered what the others had done to get him to change. The only one in his universe that had affected Damian’s opinion had been Grayson. Even then, it obviously didn’t go as deep as it did for his older self.

Dick sighed, watching as everything fell apart. He just wished that they could get through one night without an argument. It didn’t seem like that was going to happen anytime soon.

Tim and Cass found Dick hiding under his blanket in the guest room he had been given. The sobs they heard Dick emitting broke their hearts. They gently sat down on either side of him, and Cass rested a hand on what she thought was Dick’s back. Dick flinched, breaking Cass’s heart even more. Dick never flinched when she—or anyone else in their family—touched him. He encouraged them to do it, having grown up in a highly affectionate environment.

“Dick.” Cass stated firmly. The sobs quieted, but the lump under the blanket still trembled.

“He was just being a big jerk. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” Tim consoled Dick, trying to get him to come out from under the blanket. “We love you so much, Dick. And Damian loves us. I’m pretty sure he loves you the most, kid.”

Dick peeked an eye out, peering at Tim suspiciously. “Nuh uh. Dami loves everyone equally.”

Tim chuckled. “Believe that if you want, but I’m sure he loves you more. Why do you think you’re the only one able to get away with calling him ‘Dami’?”

Tim wasn’t hurt by that fact. He and Damian had never really gotten along well, hence why Damian still called him Drake. The only reason he was calling him Timothy now was probably because he was going to call the other Tim ‘Drake’. Besides, Dick had them all wrapped around his finger. He was probably the only one who could get Damian to come off his high horse.

Dick was silent for a moment. Slowly, he inched his way out of the blanket. He looked down, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. “You really believe that?”

“I know it.” Tim answered, pulling Dick into a hug. Cass wrapped her arms around the two, shushing Dick as he tried to apologize for leaving the room so rudely.

“No talk. Just hug.”

That was how the other three found them. Stephanie and Jason grinned, shouting “Group hug!” and flinging themselves at the bed. Damian sighed but walked over to the bed when Dick pouted at him. He sat on the edge of the bed and was quickly pulled into the hug.

“Dami?” Damian looked at Dick. “You—You love me, right?”

Damian pursed his lips. He didn’t like admissions of love—they made him uncomfortable—but Dick’s face was quickly falling, so Damian decided to suck it up to put him at ease.

“Of course, Richard.”

Dick smiled, snuggling up to Damian. “Good. Little you is mean, but that’s just ‘cause he’s not used to family yet. I forgive him.”

“I’m sure he’ll be glad to hear it.”  He probably wouldn’t, but he wasn’t going to tell Richard that. "I think it's time you go to bed now, Richard. We've had a long night."

"Aw!" Dick pouted. "Will you at least tell me a story?"

"What kind of story?" Damian asked, though he already had an idea.

"Tell me one about when you were Shadow! You and Batman musta had lotsa adventures!" Richard beamed up at him. Damian sighed but conceded.

"Alright, I'll tell you about the time Batman and I faced an idiot who called himself the Condiment King..."

Chapter Text

Dick shot up in bed with a gasp. Sweat dripped down his forehead as he whipped his head around the room, trying to find Zucco. In his nightmare, the man had been about to kill him, throwing him off the platform to fall to his death, just like his family. Dick had woken up before he had hit the ground. Judging by the fact that no one was barging into his room, Dick surmised that he hadn’t been screaming. He didn’t know if that was a good thing or bad thing.

He whimpered, shrinking at the growing shadows in his room. He usually used a nightlight at home, but there didn’t seem to be one in here. It had been fine when he had fallen asleep while Damian told him a story, but now the darkness was smothering him. He could feel tears pooling in his eyes, and he hated himself for it. If there was anything in the shadows, it was Batman, and Batman would always protect him. Except Batman wasn’t here now, and everyone who was here was currently sleeping, leaving Dick alone to his imagination.

Dick gathered his blanket around him and lightly hopped out of bed, his bare feet barely making a sound as they hit the floor. He dashed to the door, afraid of the potential monsters under his bed grabbing him, and yanked it open. He shut it gently behind him and turned, almost shrieking as he noticed another figure in the dark. The figure covered his mouth.

“Shhh! It’s just me!” Dick recognized Jason’s whispering voice. “You couldn’t sleep either?”

Dick shook his head. Jason removed his hand from Dick’s mouth and took his hand. “Come on. I was going to Damian’s room.”

The two boys tiptoed their way past identical doors, hoping they’d get their brother’s room right. The first room they chose was definitely the wrong room. It was decorated, for one, and there were books and papers littered everywhere. Jason and Dick looked at each other. This had to be Other Tim’s room. Their Tim’s room was exactly the same. They shut the door quietly and made their way to the next room. This one was also decorated, and Dick immediately recognized it as his other self’s room—the Flying Graysons poster gave it away. Dick bit his lip, but stepped further into the room.

“Dick!” Jason hissed, but Dick simply waved an arm at him. He was curious to see how an older him would keep his room. Jason hesitated before entering the room. He wasn’t going to leave his brother alone with a stranger, even if that stranger was Dick’s alternate self.

Dick noticed framed photos by the bed and quietly scampered over to them. He glanced over at the sleeping lump in the bed before picking up one of the photos. He recognized himself, even though he looked like a teenager, but he didn’t recognize anyone else. There seemed to be two redheaded boys, and two ebony-haired teens, one a girl and the other a boy. He wondered if he could get their names out of his older self. They seemed to be friends in the photo, and he hoped that he’d become friends with them in his own universe.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Dick nearly dropped the photo as a voice suddenly rumbled in the darkness. Jason let out a squeak, quickly grabbing Dick’s hand and shoving him behind his back.

“What’s it to ya?” Jason raised his chin at older Dick, who was slowly sitting up in bed. He smiled sleepily at the boys.

“Well, you are in my room.” Other Dick cracked a grin, which quickly melted into a knowing smile. “I had nightmares a lot as a kid—used to sleep in Bruce’s bed a lot. Must be tough not having him here, huh?”

“We were looking for Dami.” Dick’s voice was soft as he spoke. He stared at his other self. “We don’t know what room he’s in.”

“Oh.” Other Dick nodded. “You’re headed in the wrong direction. Your Damian is at the other end of the hallway.”

Jason nodded and started dragging Dick towards the door. “Cool. Thanks for the directions. We’ll see you in the morning.”

“Goodnight.” Other Dick winked at the younger, causing him to giggle. Jason shut the door behind them and pulled Dick along to the other end of the hallway.

“We shouldn’ta done that, Dick.” Jason was frowning, which caused Dick to frown.

“I was just curious…” Dick mumbled. His older self hadn’t seemed to mind.

“Still, we shoulda just kept looking for Damian.” Seeing alternate versions of themselves set Jason on edge, mostly because his alternate self scared him. He had a predatory aura about him, especially when his focus was on Dick, and that scared him even more.

“Looking for someone?” For the second time that night, Dick jumped and Jason let out a squeak. They whirled around to find the alternate Jason smirking at them as he leaned against the doorway to his room. “You sure are making an awful lot of noise.”

“I thought we were being pretty quiet.” Dick pouted.

“Dickie, be quiet.” Jason murmured. Other Jason barked out a laugh.

“Yeah, Dickie. Be quiet.” Dick’s Jason glared.

“What’s your problem?” He didn’t care if he woke anyone up anymore. His other self was being a big jerk, and he couldn’t understand why. “You’re—You’re mean and rude, and I would never act like that to my brothers and sisters.” Jason could hear doors opening, but he ignored them. “Maybe I was like that when Bruce first took me in, but everyone was really patient with me, and now I’m a big brother and I think it’s awesome, but obviously you don’t! Why?” Jason didn’t realize he was trembling until he felt Dick’s hand on his shoulder.

The alternate Jason felt rage boiling within him each second that passed with his younger self talking. The kid didn’t understand what he had been through, and it sounded like he had it a lot better than the older Jason had had. He was almost—dare he say it?—jealous. He sneered at the kid.

“You wanna know why, kid?”

“ Jason.” Bruce warned.

“Shut it, Bruce!” Jason snapped. He leaned in close to the younger Jason. “It’s because I fucking died, kid. Went off to find my real mom, and you know what? She sold me out to the Joker. He beat me with a crowbar and then blew up the warehouse I was in. B didn’t save me in time and, if it ever happens to you, he won’t save you either. Bastard didn’t even try to avenge me.”

Jason furrowed his eyebrows. “But...if you died, how are you here now?”

Older Jason straightened and projected an air of nonchalance. “Ra’s al Ghul decided to dip me in the Lazarus Pits. Fucked a bit with my head. And now I’m here.” He shrugged and turned back to go into his room. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to sleep. Good fucking night, everybody.”

The door was slammed shut, leaving the hallway in silence. Everyone seemed to be staring at Jason, waiting for him to react. He felt arms wrap around him from behind.

“Jay?” Dick whimpered, his voice wobbling. “Are you okay?”

Jason looked at Dick and then at everyone else. Their stares were starting to overwhelm him, so he did something he hadn’t done in a long time.

He ran.

He untangled Dick’s arms from around him and bolted, ignoring Dick’s cry of “Jason!”. He ran and ran, until his emotions took over and he collapsed to his knees. He didn’t know where he was, some part of the Manor he had either never explored or was just different to the Manor he knew. Jason curled up, wrapping his arms around his legs. He began to cry.

Meanwhile, Dick was squirming in Tim’s arms, pounding his fists into Tim’s chest. “Let go of me, Timmy! I have to help Jay!”

Tim struggled to hold onto his little brother. His face was a light pink, both from exertion and embarrassment at the audience they had. “Dick! Stephanie and Damian have gone after him. They’re gonna make sure he’s okay.”

“No!” Dick shrieked, arching his back. Tim nearly dropped him. “I want Jason! Let me see Jason!”

“Dick.” Tim tried to use his firm voice. “You’re making a scene and embarrassing the both of us. Stop this. Now.”

Dick whined, bursting into tears. He finally stilled and wrapped his arms around Tim’s neck, sobbing quietly into Tim’s chest. Tim sighed in relief and looked at their audience sheepishly.

“Um, sorry about that. He doesn’t usually act like that.” Tim rubbed the boy’s back, trying to soothe him.

“It’s fine.” The other Dick Grayson was staring at his younger self with surprise and...was that embarrassment? “These aren’t exactly normal circumstances.”

Tim sighed and looked down at Dick. “Are you going to be able to go back to sleep?” Dick shook his head quickly.

“Movie?” Cass asked. Dick nodded shyly. Cass looked at Bruce. “You have movies?”

“We do.” Bruce didn’t take his eyes off the younger version of his son in the arms of a younger version of one of his other sons. He wondered what the other Bruce had done to get them to all be as close together as they were and wondered where he had failed. “I would assume they’re in the same place you keep them in your home.”

“Thank you.” Cass stated. “Join us?” She looked around at the others.

“I’d love to join you guys.” The older Dick smiled. “I’m sure everyone else would, right?”

The older Stephanie nodded along with the older Cass. The other Tim was hesitant but sighed and agreed at the pleading looks from his Stephanie and Dick. The older Dick had decided that the younger Damian and Bruce would join them, much to that Damian’s protest. However, Damian did walk with them to the living room. It seemed that no matter the universe, Dick had Damian wrapped around his finger.

Jason heard footsteps approaching him but didn’t raise his head from his knees. “Go away.” He mumbled.

“Oh, sweetie…” He felt Stephanie sit down beside him and pull him into a hug. He leaned into her, drawing comfort from the feeling of someone holding him.

“Jason.” Damian sat down on his other side, crossing his legs Indian style. Jason sniffled and looked at Damian from Stephanie’s arms.

“Is what he said true? Would Bruce really not save me?”

Damian growled. As soon as he saw the man again, he’d punch the fucker out for upsetting his little brother. “He doesn’t know our father like we do. Father is much different from this universe’s Bruce Wayne. He’d never abandon you, just like he wouldn’t abandon the rest of us.”

"Yeah?" Jason asked, looking up at Damian hopefully.

"Of course!" Stephanie beamed at him. "Besides, this universe is pretty different compared to ours. You're different, Bruce is different, Dickie's an adult..." She cracked a grin as Jason giggled. She stood, pulling Jason up with her. "Now, come on. I bet the family isn't going back to sleep after what happened. I bet they're all downstairs, watching a movie or playing a game. How about we go join them?"

"What if they are sleeping?"

"Then you can sleep with one of us." Stephanie picked him up. He enjoyed it too much to tell her that he was too old to be held. He needed the closeness, the feeling that there were people who loved him and would be there for him. He sighed and rested his head on her shoulder.

"Okay." Stephanie smiled at Damian, glad that their little brother was feeling better already.

"Great! Let's go!" Stephanie jogged off followed by Damian, who yelled for her to be careful with Jason.

Jason smiled as he listened to the two argue. His family wasn't perfect, but if he ever got into a situation like the one the other Jason had been in, he knew they'd be there for him. They loved him.

Chapter Text

Damian was sketching in the living room when the younger Dick marched up to him with, pulling the younger Jason with him. He stopped in front of Damian and dropped Jason’s hand. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Damian.

“What.” Damian scowled at the boy.

“We’re gonna go play, and you’re gonna play with us.” Dick puffed his cheeks out as he tried to sound demanding.

Damian scoffed and went back to his sketchbook. “ I don’t play games. I’m not some silly child.”

Dick’s frown turned to confusion. “Aren’t you, like, eleven? That’s a child.”

“-tt-” Damian ignored him. His Grayson had tried enough times to get him to act ‘like the child he was’. If his Grayson could barely do it, this version of Grayson definitely would not succeed.

The sketchbook was suddenly yanked out of his hands. Damian stood, baring his teeth at the insolent child. It took everything in him not to grab this more annoying version of Grayson by his collar.  Said child trembled a bit as he tried to stand his ground. The younger Jason didn’t move, but his glare spoke volumes—if you hurt him, I hurt you.

“I think that we should get to know each other ‘cause I think it’s cool that we get to meet a younger Dami.” Dick’s voice shook. He was still hurt by what this Damian had said yesterday, but he was determined to befriend him. “Jay and I always play Batman and Shadow, and we need a third so that someone can play a villain. I think you should play with us.”

Damian’s retort died as his eyebrows furrowed. “Batman and Shadow?”

Dick’s eyes widened. “Oh! Would it be Batman and Robin here?” He grinned. “That’s so cool!” He turned to Jason. “We should play Batman and Robin some time!”

“Dick.” Jason reminded Dick with a pointed look at Damian.

“Oh! Sorry.” Dick grinned sheepishly. “Our Dami was the first partner to the Batman, and he was known as Shadow. Timmy didn’t take up the name when you became Shadowbat ‘cause he thought it was too close, so he became Kid Bat.”

“Shadowbat, huh?” Damian pursed his lips. “I will make you a deal. I will play this game of yours if you tell me about my older self.” He could probably ask his other self, but after pissing him off last night, Damian did not want to talk to him. Maybe he could learn why his other self seemed to care for his ‘siblings’ through these two.

Dick beamed. “Great!” He grabbed Damian’s hand, much to his disgust, and dragged him and the younger Todd to his room. “So do you wanna be Batman, Shadow, or a villain?”

Jason frowned. “Why does he get to choose first?”

Dick pouted back at him. “‘Cause he hasn’t played before, so he gets first pick. It’s only fair. Besides, you’re Batman all the time.”

“Am not.”

“Are too! You’re only Shadow when Dami’s Batman!”

“Am not!”

“I will be Batman!” Damian grit his teeth as he spoke. This was why he did not spend time around other children, except for Colin. Colin was tolerable.

“‘Kay! Jay, can I be the villain? I wanna be Mr. Freeze!” Dick looked at him with pleading eyes. “Please, Jay?”

Jason and Damian glanced at each other, not ecstatic about the idea of having to ‘work together’, but Jason could never say no to Dick. He sighed. “Fine.”

“Okay! Now, we need costumes!”

Damian suddenly smirked. “I have an idea…”

“Boom! Pow! Your feet are frozen, Batman!”

The two Tims had been discussing various differences in their worlds when they heard shouting coming from younger Dick’s room. The younger Tim felt himself grin at the familiar cries of his younger brother. His grin only widened as he heard the younger Damian shout back.

“Shadow! Distract Mr. Freeze while I free myself!”

The Tims cracked the door open. The younger smiled knowingly while the older gaped. Damian and the younger Jason were chasing the younger Dick. They were both wearing a cowl and cape while Dick had a blue bucket on his head with two holes cut out for him to see out of. He was also carrying an empty water gun, which he would point at the other two and yelled ‘Freeze!’.

“What the…” The older Tim stifled his laugh. The younger Tim simply grinned wider as he jumped into the room.

Dick gasped. “Riddler! Are you here to assist me?”

“Do I hate Batman, Freeze?”

Dick paused. “Um...Yes?” He put his hands on his hips. “But you can’t help me until you put your costume on!” Dick noticed the other Tim standing at the door and pointed at him, much to the older Tim’s surprise. “You too, Redbat! I mean—” Dick aimed the water gun at the older Tim. “Timothy Drake! I can hold you for ransom! Capture him, Riddler!”

The younger Tim gave the older a look—play along—and gave chase.

Bruce Wayne was walking by when he heard shouting coming from the younger Dick’s room. Worried that something bad was happening to the younger, he slammed the door open, only to freeze in surprise.

The younger Dick, Tim, Cass, and Stephanie were all standing together. Dick had a bucket on his head, Tim had a green question mark taped to his chest, Cass had what looked like paper cat ears tied to her head, and Stephanie had a green sheet tied around her body. Bruce’s Damian was wearing his cowl as was the other Jason. Bruce’s Dick Grayson was wearing a trench coat and had a paper mustache taped to his face. The older Tim, Damian, and Jason were tied up in the corner, though Jason was the only one that was gagged (something he looked pissed about). The older Stephanie had a purple sheet tied around her neck, and the older Cass had a black one tied around her neck. They all froze when they heard Bruce come in.

Suddenly, a yellow sheet was thrown at him. He narrowed his eyes at the culprit, the older Dick, who simply winked. The younger Dick pointed.

“It’s Robin! Poison Ivy! Riddler! Get him!” There was an awkward pause, no one knowing what to do for a moment, before Bruce smirked and tied the sheet around his neck. He heard a whispered ‘I’m so proud’ from the older Dick, but he ignored it and turned to Damian.

“Batman, I’ve come to help.”

Damian smirked. “Shadow! Help Robin take down Poison Ivy and Riddler! Batgirl, save the hostages while Spoiler helps me take down Catwoman and Mr. Freeze!”

Bruce was confused by the name Shadow but didn’t have time to think about it as the younger Stephanie and Tim leaped forward to attack him.

“On it, Batman!” The younger Jason leapt forward and tackled the younger Tim.

It was chaos after that. The game would have been better played in the Batcave or outside. With so many people in the room, there wasn’t much room to ‘fight’. People slammed into the wall, and ‘capes’ were stepped on, choking some people. The whole experience was strange for Bruce. Dick was the only one of his children he had ever played with, and that had been years ago. It was all worth it, though, when he saw the smiles on everyone’s faces.

Finally, the four ‘villains’ were captured and tied up, and the hostages were ‘saved’. The older Jason grumbled but didn’t try to ruin the game. Dick, who Bruce figured was Commissioner Gordon, approached the younger Damian.

“Thanks for your help again, Batman.” Dick grinned and looked around at the other ‘heroes’. “You too, Shadow, Batgirl, Spoiler, and Robin.”

“Of course, Commissioner.” Damian crossed his arms.

The younger Dick yanked the helmet off his head. “That was fun! We’ve never had that many people play before!”

“It was pretty fun. Even if I was just a hostage.” The older Tim had a smile on his face as he spoke.

The older Dick grinned and took the mustache off his face. “It was, but I think it’s time for lunch now. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving!”

The others agreed and made their way to the dining room. Bruce made to leave and was surprised to feel a hand slipping into his own. He looked down to see the younger Dick looking up at him, eyes shining.

"Thanks for playing with us, Bruce. I know you're not my Bruce, but you feel like my Bruce." Dick tugged at his hand. "Now, come on! Jason'll eat everything if we don't hurry!"

Bruce let this younger version of his son (a version that he missed often but would never admit it) drag him out of the room and smiled. Dick had always had that effect on him, no matter how old he was. Being from a different universe didn't change that.

Chapter Text

Tim was reading to Dick when a woman wheeled into the living room. Tim sat the book down and looked up curiously. Dick tilted his head to the side as he stared the woman.

There was something familiar about her…

“Hi!” Dick smiled and waved. “I’m Dick. Who are you?”

“Oh, you are just the most adorable little thing. It’s been a long time since I saw you this young.” The woman grinned and wheeled closer. “I’m Barbara Gordon. Do you know me in your universe?”

Tim’s jaw dropped while Dick’s eyes widened. “You’re Barbara? The Commissioner’s kid?”

Barbara laughed. “I’m guessing you’ve met my other self?”

Tim chuckled nervously as Dick gaped. “You’re, uh, 5 years old in our universe.”

Barbara couldn’t help but grin. “So I’m younger than Dick in your universe? Interesting.”

“So you know about Batman and everyone else?” Tim asked. He leaned forward, his eyes lighting up at the chance for new knowledge. “How did you find out? Are you a partner of Batman too?”

Barbara smiled. “I am. I was the first Batgirl, and now I go by Oracle. I’m their computer expert and networker.”

“Nice! So were you the first partner to the Batman or was Dick? Does the Commissioner know that you work with the Batman? Your injury—” Tim suddenly cut himself off. He flushed. “I’m, uh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“It’s fine.” Barbara smiled reassuringly. “I’ve come to terms with it, and you were just excited to learn. Our Tim is like that as well. If you really want to know, it was the Joker.”

Tim nodded, relieved that he hadn’t offended her but also solemn at the circumstances of her injury. Dick, meanwhile, was still staring up at her in awe. Barbara stifled a laugh at his expression.

“Yes, Dick?”

“You’re so big!” Dick threw his hands up, eyes wide in shock. “And pretty!”

Barbara couldn’t help but giggle. “Am I?” Dick nodded quickly. “Well, thank you! Would you tell me about the me in your universe? I’d like to hear about what I’m like.”

Dick nodded eagerly. “Can you tell me about older me?”

Barbara grinned. “Of course! Why don’t we talk about it over a snack?”

Dick hesitated for a moment. “Can I ride in your wheelchair to the kitchen?”

“Dick—” Tim didn’t know how Barbara would react to that, but Barbara just laughed.

“Deal.” She turned to Tim. “You don’t mind, do you?”

Tim waved her off. “Just make sure he doesn’t get into trouble, would you?”

Barbara laughed while Dick whined, and they wheeled out of the room. Tim sighed and sat back. Maybe he could get some reading done before he got dragged into another situation

“Dami! Dami!”

Bruce, older Dick, older Tim, older Damian, and younger Damian were in the Batcave, working on a way to send the group back to their universe, when they heard the shout. They turned and saw younger Dick waving from Barbara’s lap as she wheeled into the Batcave. Dick hopped off her lap and ran up to the older Damian.

“Dami!” Dick wrapped his arms around Damian’s leg and beamed up at the man. “Look! Look! It’s Barbara! Remember my friend?”

“I do.” Damian narrowed his eyes at Barbara, who struggled to keep from laughing. The protective way Damian held Dick’s shoulder and glared at her was just too adorable.

“Is she reverse-aged too?” The older Dick asked, curious. Younger Dick nodded.

“Uh huh! She’s five!” Younger Dick tugged on Damian’s pant leg. “She was the first Batgirl, and she told me lots of stories! Do you think our Barbara is gonna be Batgirl in our universe?”

The thought of the chipper five-year-old knowing their secret and running around in the Batcave causes Damian to scowl. There were already too many people in the Batcave. Another one was not going to be added if he could help it.

“We’ll have to see.” He wasn’t going to tell Dick his plans though.

Dick was satisfied with his answer and wandered off to see how different the Cave was compared to back home. He hadn’t had a chance to explore it yet. Both Damians ended up keeping an eye one him while ideas were discussed.

“We could always contact the Justice League.” Dick suggested.

“ No .” The two Damians had spoken at the same time. They narrowed their eyes at each other while Bruce sighed.

“It might be a good idea to contact Flash. He has the most experience with traveling between universes.”

“Wally doesn’t have as much experience as Barry did, but yeah, he might be able to help.” Dick walked away to call the man.

“Who is Wally?” Younger Dick wandered back over, looking intrigued.

“He’s your friend and the current Flash.” Older Tim explained.

“What happened to Mr. Allen? Did he get a new name?” Older Tim looked pained as the younger Dick asked questions.

“No. He, uh, he died.” Tim looked away.

“Oh.” Younger Dick answered solemnly. He felt sad for this universe’s Barry Allen, but he was glad it wasn’t his Flash. He hoped he would meet this ‘Wally’ soon though.  Dick made his way over to the older Damian and climbed onto his back. Damian eyed him.

“Richard, I’m busy.”

“But Dami…” Dick whined.

“Do you want to go home or not?”

Dick pouted. “I do, but it’s not like we’re gonna go home any time soon.”

“We’ll go home sooner if you let me work. Go find Jason.”

Dick slumped but flipped off of Damian’s back. “Okay...Will you at least tell me another story before I go to bed?”

Damian sighed. “All right, Richard.”

Dick beamed and ran off. The others worked on solutions for a while. Wally was currently on a mission and wouldn’t be home for a few days, which slowed down progress, but they weren’t deterred. Both Damians still believed they could solve the problem without outside help. Eventually, some of the others came down to tell them it was time for dinner. All but the the Damians went up, the younger tugging on the older’s arm to signal that he wanted to talk.

When they were alone, the older Damian spoke first. “Yes?”

“You are...different from what I imagined my older self to be like.”

“You do realize that I’m not actually you. I am from a different universe.” The older Damian smirked.

“I do.” The younger raised his chin. “But we are close enough alike. I want to know why you act the way you do. You were raised as I was—the one true heir to the Batman’s mantle. The only true Wayne.”

Older Damian nodded, agreeing. “I was raised the same, but our lives after that point in our lives differ. I arrived at the Manor as the first child Father took in. I was the oldest when Father began to take in other children. I had responsibilities that you did not and might not ever have.”

“Why do you care for them? Grayson I could maybe understand. He has a...bright personality that seems to infect everyone. Cain is tolerable. But Drake and Todd and Brown.” The younger scowled. “I do not understand.”

The older Damian sighed. He used to be just like this, and he was sort of glad he no longer was. He had matured in a way his younger self had never realized he could.

"For the longest time, I hated Drake. He was the first that Father took in, and I resented him for it. He never took my name like you took Richard's, something that I would have hated him even more for, but he still seemed like a replacement for me. I felt the same about Brown." The older Damian was silent for a moment. "But then there was the incident with the Joker. Drake was...taken and tortured. The Joker and his harlot tried to mold him into their own child. Had we gotten there any later..." Damian did not like to think about it. "After that, I learned that the..." Oh, fuck it. "...hateful words I said to them could be the last I ever say to them. And then Cain and Todd came to the Manor. I tried to be better, but as you know, I've never been very good at emotions." Damian glanced at the elevator. "And then Father brought Richard home. He is exceptional at digging his way into anyone's heart. He is the one who showed me how to appreciate those around me. Colin too, but Richard more."

"...I see." Younger Damian frowned. "I still cannot fully see why you act as you do—"

"—but you may never will because you may never experience as I have."

"I will have to think on what you have told me." 

The older Damian nodded. "Of course." He began to walk to the elevator. "Take your time. I gave you a lot of information."

The younger Damian was left alone in the Batcave. He stood, a number of emotions roiling within him.  Not all of his questions were answered, but the rest could be answered later. For now, he had dinner to get to, and a lot to think over.

Chapter Text

Older Tim was sitting in the library working when younger Dick marched up to him. Jason was not far behind. “Take us to get ice cream.”

Tim looked up from his laptop. “...What?”

“Take us to get ice cream please.” Dick smiled.

Tim looked around. “...Why? Why me?”

“Bruce says we can't go to the city ‘cause people might recognize me or Timmy and get confused but we want ice cream so we thought we could get some outside of Gotham. Our Timmy and your Dami are too young to drive us legally, our Dami’s busy with Bruce, Stephanie is hanging out with Cass and their other selves, big me is at work, and we don't like big Jason. So that leaves you!” Dick pouted and clasped his hands. “Pretty please will you take us to get ice cream?”

“I…” Tim looked between the two children and sighed, causing them to cheer. Dick and Jason grabbed onto Tim’s hands and pulled, eager to get to the car as soon as possible.

“Can we take one of the cool cars?” Jason asked, looking pointedly at Bruce’s sports cars.

“I wanna take the blue one!” Dick dashed for what Tim recognized as Bruce’s Ultimate Aero. Tim blanched.

“I’m not really sure…”

“Yeah! Yeah!” Jason ran up to the car, and both boys peeked through the window. “I like this one!”

“There aren’t enough seats.” Tim tried to sound stern. He had been a leader for both Young Justice and the Titans. He could take charge of two kids.

Dick turned around, pouting. “But it has the cool doors that go up, and it’s blue! And Jason and I are small enough to share a seat.” He widened his eyes into his trademark begging face, tears pooling in them. His lip jutted out and wobbled. 

Tim’s jaw almost dropped. His chest felt funny as he stared at the kid. Looking into those eyes, he almost felt guilty, like he kicked the kid’s puppy. Tim glanced at Jason, who was giving a similar look—though not as powerful—and stuttered.

“I—I—”

“Please, Timmy? We never get to ride in the cool cars.” Impossibly, Dick’s eyes widened further.

Tim looked back and forth between the two boys, unsure of what to say. “I—I really shouldn’t.”

“But you will?” Jason asked hopefully.

Tim hesitated, looking between the car and the boys, before dropping his shoulders in defeat. The two boys cheered and tugged on the car door. Tim sighed and got the keys from the hook on the wall (Bruce kept all of his car keys there to make it easier). He unlocked the car and pressed the button to lift the door up. Dick and Jason cheered again and scrambled into their seat, beaming. Tim climbed in and looked at the wheel uncertainly.

“Hey, weird Tim.” Tim looked over at Jason. “Don’t get pulled over.”

Tim groaned and started the car.

“Thanks for the ice cream, Timmy!” Dick beamed as he licked at his double-scoop chocolate ice cream with sprinkles.

“Yeah!” Jason bit into his double-scoop vanilla with M&M’s.

Tim blanched as he drove. “Please don’t get any on the seats. Bruce will kill me.”

“We won’t!” The boys answered together. Dick’s face was quickly becoming smeared in chocolate while Jason managed to keep his clean.

Suddenly, the phone started ringing in the car. Tim gave the boys a look to keep quiet and answered the phone.

“Hello?" 

“Tim?” Bruce’s voice rang out from the speakers. “Where are you? Why are you in the Ultimate Aero?”

Before Tim could answer, there was a scuffle and older Damian was the one speaking. “Drake. Are Richard and Jason with you?”

“Hi, Dami!” Dick chirped. “We’re on our way home now!

“Where did you go?” Damian did not sound happy.

“We got Timmy to take us to get ice cream!” 

“Don’t worry.” Jason spoke before Damian could say anything. “We made sure he took us out of Gotham. And we wore sunglasses.”

Damian was silent for a moment. “...Doesn’t the Ultimate Aero only have two seats?”

“I tried to—”

“Don’t get mad at Timmy!” Now, Dick sounded worried. “We really wanted to ride in this car ‘cause it’s sooo cool!”

“Yeah!” Jason chimed in. “It has the doors that go up!”

Damian sighed, sounding exasperated. “Did you use the eyes?”

"Of course!" Dick, much to Tim's annoyance, looked proud of himself.

Damian sighed again. "Just get them home, Drake." His voice suddenly became cold. "If I see one scratch on them, I will gut you."

Tim glared at the dashboard for a moment before looking back at the road. "I've dealt with a younger you's threats enough times to not be intimidated by you."

"I'm from an alternate universe. I have no qualms about maiming you." Damian hung up, leaving the three in silence.

"He's kidding, right?" Tim glanced at the boys.

"Well..." Dick grinned sheepishly. "Dami beat up a kid who was bullying me once, but it was never proven that it was him."

"But we know it was him." Jason popped the last of his cone in his mouth. "He looked really smug and stuff. Plus, no one else woulda done it, 'cept me maybe."

"Great..." Tim hunched his shoulders.

Older Damian and younger Tim were waiting in the garage when older Tim pulled in. They watched the three climb out of the car with Dick chattering as usual. The boy's face was covered in chocolate ice cream, causing Damian to roll his eyes. The younger Tim couldn't help but laugh both at what Dick was talking about and at the chocolate on his face.

"So I'm an awesome big brother, right? You're a cool big brother. But I'm good, right? You like me as a big brother? I don't know about big Jason 'cause he seems kinda mean, but I seem really nice. Sorry, Jason." Dick looked at Jason for a moment beofre looking back at Tim, tugging at his hand. "I always wanted a little brother when I was at Haly's. I bet the universe's me wanted one to. I'm glad he got to have little brothers. Especially you guys 'cause I like you as big brothers. How's Dami as a little brother? He's the biggest so he always in charge and stuff so what's he like when he's little 'cause my Dami doesn't like to listen to people a lot."

Older Tim look both flustered and amused as he listened to Dick babble. "You're a great older brother."

Dick gasped excitedly at the same time as when he spotted Damian and younger Tim. "Dami! Dami, did you hear that? Timmy, did you hear that? I'm a great older brother!"

"We heard." Damian rumbled, annoyed that Dick was showing attention to someone from the other universe (and even more annoyed that it was Drake). He knelt as Dick ran up to him and pulled out a napkin. Dick was always a mess when he ate ice cream. "Your face is appalling." Dick whined as Damian wiped his face, but stayed still otherwise. Older Tim snorted, noting the similarities between this Dick and Damian and his Dick and Damian. Dick was always mother-henning Damian. Damian moved and wiped at Jason's face, though it wasn't nearly as messy as Dick's had been. Jason rolled his eyes but let Damian clean his face.

The older Tim suddenly felt small arms wrap around his legs. He looked down to see Dick beaming up at him.

"Thank you for taking us to get ice cream! It was a lot of fun!"

"You're welcome." Tim smiled, Dick's own being contagious. Dick squeezed his legs before scampering over to the younger Tim.

"Can we read the next chapter of that vampire book now? I wanna know what happens to the lady who got bit!"

The younger Tim laughed and took Dick's hand. "I think I have some time. Come on, I think the book is in my room."

Dick eagerly followed after his Tim with Jason not far behind. He sometimes joined them when Tim read to Dick, and he found this book to be really interesting. Older Tim and Older Damian were left alone in the garage.

Damian glanced over at Older Tim. "I understand that Dick used his eyes on you. They are...tough to resist, however, do try harder in the future. He and Jason should not leave the Manor."

Tim rolled his eyes. "I get where you're coming from. It's definitely a bad idea for them to wander around Gotham, but I think getting out was good for them. Being cooped up, especially in this place, isn't healthy."

Damian was silent for a moment. He pursed his lips. "I see your point. However, I would like it if more than one person accompanied him, including me or Brown. I also would like for a car that actually had enough seats to be used." He glared at Tim, who looked away.

"They were safe. I made sure of that."

"If anything had happened to them, you would be eating through a straw." Tim still wasn't sure if he was kidding or not. Probably not, since it was Damian.

As Damian stalked off, Tim couldn't help but smirk. He was so going to shove it Damian's face that the other him doted on his younger siblings, especially Dick. He was not going to be happy to find out that the other him was a mother hen.

Chapter Text

Bruce exited the clock and headed to his room. Patrol had been average. He caught a few bank robbers and a few muggers. Two-Face had tried to steal the oldest known penny, but Batman had quickly stopped him and taken him back to Arkham.

He made his way up the stairs, imagining lying down in his soft bed, when he heard a whimper coming from one of the rooms. Bruce stopped and peered at the nearest doors, listening. He heard a sob coming from the younger Dick’s room. Without thinking—long ago memories flashing through his mind—Bruce opened the door and made his way over to the bed. Dick was curled up with his blankets tangled around his legs. He seemed to be reaching for something as tears trailed down his cheeks. 

He must be looking for Zitka, Bruce thought.

If Bruce remembered correctly, Dick had taken Zitka to Bludhaven, so he wouldn’t be able to go get it. He hesitated before gathering the younger Dick into his arms.

“Shh, wake up, Dick. It’s just a nightmare.” Bruce ran his fingers through the boy’s hair as he shushed him. He hadn’t done this in years, but he slipped right back into the role like he had never stopped.

Dick gasped and jerked awake. He looked up at Bruce with tired, tear-filled eyes. “Daddy?”

Bruce tensed, his heart seizing. Dick had called him that a few times as a child—it had been so long since he had heard it…

“No, Dickie. I’m not your Bruce.”

The boy pouted, his eyes lowering. “Oh.” He bit his lip and looked to the side. “Can I—Can I just pretend for a moment? You’re a lot like my Bruce, and I—I miss him…”

Bruce hesitated. “If you really want to, I suppose…”

Dick sniffled and wrapped his arms and legs around Bruce’s middle. He laid his head against Bruce’s chest, listening for his heartbeat. “I miss my Bruce. I love Dami and Steph and Timmy and everyone, but I wanna see my Bruce too.”

“You’ll see him soon. I promise.” Bruce hugged the boy back until Dick fell asleep once more. He stayed, running his fingers through the boy’s hair as he slept. While doing so, he felt something watching him. Bruce looked up and saw the older Damian at the door, eyes narrowed at Bruce. They stared at each other, not saying anything, before Damian nodded and silently left.

Bruce wasn’t exactly sure what it meant, but he had the feeling that he had gotten the older Damian’s approval.

The younger Dick shuffled into the dining room the next morning, rubbing at one eye sleepily. He noticed Bruce sitting at the table and smiled shyly at him. He made his way over and clambered onto the seat next to the head of the table. Bruce glanced at him in surprise. The younger Dick had always sat between the older Damian and one of his other siblings. He had never sat next to Bruce.

One by one, the others wandered into the dining room, each eyeing Dick but not saying anything. The only ones who hadn’t entered the room were the older Dick, the older Damian, and the older Jason. A shout drew everyone out to the front parlor.

“Get the fuck off of me!” Older Jason growled from beneath Older Damian, who was currently trying to punch Jason in the face.

“I have had enough of your immaturity! Even Richard is better mannered than you are!” Damian managed to slam his fist into Jason’s jaw before being thrown off. They both stood, Damian glaring and Jason sneering.

“Even as an adult, you still act like a brat.” Jason rubbed his jaw.

“Coming from a man who bullies children.” Damian growled.

Jason snarled. “I don’t bully children! I was telling him the truth . He fucking asked for it!”

“You have been childish and patronizing towards my family the moment we got here, especially Richard and Jason. You act an ass around everyone, using your death as a poor excuse for your actions. I have news for you, Todd , I died too!”

Damian heard Richard gasp but ignored him. “I was dead for a time and eventually brought back as well. However, I am not as bitter as you seem to be about it. I accepted it and took my second chance gladly.”

“Fuck you! You don’t know me! You don’t know my feelings!” Jason surged forward, swinging his fist to punch Damian in the nose. Damian dodged, and Jason swept his leg out to knock Damian off his feet. Damian jumped up and flipped over Jason. Jason spun around and caught Damian in the chest, sending him flying back a few feet. Damian growled and stood.

Jason stalked forward. “You think you can come in here and tell me what I’m thinking? Tell me your sob story and how you’re so much better than me? News flash! Your younger self already thinks he’s high and mighty and likes to announce it!”

“Guys! Stop!” Jason’s Stephanie looked between the two, looking for an opening to jump in. Timing it wrong would end with her getting very hurt.

“Shut it, Blondie!” Jason snarled at her. Damian ducked another punch thrown by him, but he had another one aimed lower that caught Damian under the chin. Damian’s teeth clicked violently.

Damian tackled Jason, and it became a battle for dominance. The men rolled, scratching and kicking and punching at any opening they could find. Hair and clothing were torn as the boys fought.

"Boys!" Bruce shouted. "Stop this! Right now!"

"You're not the boss of me!" Both threw out and then shouted angrily at each other for saying the same thing.

 Damian ended up winning, slamming Jason's head into the tiled floor. "I have far more training than you. Give up now before I do something you'll regret."

Jason seethed but figured that he had lost—this round at least. He gave a minute nod, and Damian released him. Damian stood and over to the others, not bothering to help the other up. Damian honestly believed that Jason deserved much worse than he had gotten—he had hurt Richard and Jason after all—but the fight was over for now, and he had the others to attend to. 

Richard looked at Damian with wary, scared eyes, an action that tugged at Damian's heart. He never wanted Richard to be afraid of him. Jason had an arm around the boy, and the younger Tim had his arms around the two boys. Damian's Stephanie eyes switched between him and Todd worriedly but said nothing. Cass just nodded, understanding. Bruce and this dimension's Tim, Stephanie, and Cass stood with wide eyes, not really sure what to say (Alfred was feeling similar emotions but managed to keep his eyes at normal size). The younger Damian looked a little smug, knowing that his older self had bested Todd.

Damian looked around at everyone. "I will not apologize for my behavior nor explain it. His past behavior should be explanation enough."

"What—What did he say?" The younger dick asked quietly. His knuckles were white as he gripped Jason's shirt.

Damian looked behind him and glared at Todd, who had sat up, glaring right back. "He made some comments I'd rather not repeat. Normally, I would have been fine, but he has been irritating me since we first got here. Besides, I had promised to punch him for Jason."

Everyone turned to the younger Jason, who simply shrugged. It was true after all.

The silence that followed was interrupted by Alfred. "Well, if that's done now, why don't we return to brea—"

Alfred was interrupted by the front door suddenly bursting open. The older Dick stood there, a grin on his face as he held a duffle bag.

“I’m back!” Dick blinked, his smile slowly fading as he took in the room and its occupants. “What’d I miss?”

Chapter Text

Dick looked around, but no one seemed willing to answer his question.

“Well!” Dick walked over to the younger version of himself and kneeled. He gave the boy a smile and opened the duffle. “Bruce said you were missing something, so he sent me to get it for you.” He had also grabbed a few things for himself, such as clothes. He was going to be at the Manor longer than he originally thought he was going to be.

Still smiling, Dick pulled out a worn stuffed elephant, causing the younger to gasp.

“Zitka!” Younger Dick made to reach for it before pausing and looking at the older timidly. “You—You brought her for me?”

The older Dick’s smile softened. “Yeah. She’s for you. Take good care of her though, will you?”

Younger Dick nodded eagerly. “I will! I promise!” He gently took the toy from the older’s hand and crushed it to his chest, burying his face in it. She wasn’t technically his, but she felt just the same. The younger Dick looked up from the toy, tears in his eyes, and launched himself at the man in front of him. The older Dick caught him, expecting the action.

Dick wrapped his arms and legs around the older’s torso, making sure to keep his grip on Zitka. “Thank you.” the younger whispered.

“Not a problem.” the older murmured. It was a little weird to be hugging his younger self, but he had to admit that his younger self was adorable . Besides, the kid seemed like he needed the hug.

Younger Dick eventually let go and walked over to Bruce. He looked up at the man shyly before wrapping his arms around the man’s leg.

“Thank you for telling him to get Zitka.” Younger Dick said, his voice muffled against Bruce’s leg.

“Of course.” Bruce smiled at the boy.

The younger Damian couldn’t help but feel a little jealous, not that he would admit it. His father rarely smiled at him like that—if at all . Everyone knew that Dick would always be Bruce’s favorite, no matter how much Grayson and his father denied it, but it still hurt. He saw Grayson looking at him knowingly, giving Damian a sympathetic smile.

“-Tt-” Damian turned his head away, but he felt better.

The silence was suddenly interrupted by a beep coming from Bruce. He stiffened and straightened.

“What was that?” both Stephanies asked.

“It was an alert.” Bruce gently detached the younger Dick from his leg. “Somebody is trying to contact me through the Batcomputer.”

There was a pause before everyone was racing to the Batcave. Unfortunately, the elevator could only fit so many, so a few trips had to be made. Bruce, of course, went down first with a few of the others. By the time everyone had gotten to the Batcave, Bruce was already at the Batcomputer.

Batman was on the screen.

The younger Dick, who had been in the last group, gasped excitedly and raced forward, followed by his Jason and Tim. “Daddy!”

The Batman on screen immediately turned his head and focused on the boys running towards the screen. His whole demeanor softened as he took them in. “Dick, Jason, Tim. I’m glad that you’re all safe.”

“Hey!” Batman’s Stephanie walked up, a smile on her face. “What about me, Cass, and Damian? Or are you just happy to see the little ones?”

Batman ignored Tim and Jason’s protests about not being ‘little’ and smiled back at her. “The Manor has been too quiet without all of you.”

The older Jason snorted. “Well, isn’t this sweet? The old man is actually smiling.”

Batman’s face immediately hardened as Nightwing admonished Jason. He zeroed in on Jason, his eyes narrowing. “I take it that you are the older Jason?”

Jason smirked. “What gave it away?”

Batman stared at him for a moment before turning back to Bruce. “I have been working on a way to get them back. We’ve had cross-dimensional travel happen before, which I’m assuming you’ve had too. If we can both calibrate the zeta tubes in our respective caves to connect, we should be able to create a portal between our universes.”

“And this will work?” Bruce asked.

Batman nodded. “This isn’t the first time I’ve traveled dimensions. Same with Damian. He can answer any questions you have about configuring the zeta tube. I’ve managed to figure out the coordinates I’ll need to type in, but you still need to figure it out for my Earth. Damian, Tim. Do you think you can work on that?”

“Of course, Father.” 

The younger Dick beamed up at Batman. “How’s Alfred? Does he miss us? What about Titus and Ace and cat Alfred? Do they miss us? Has Babs called to play?”

“Alfred is fine. Of course he misses you. They miss you as well—Ace especially misses you. The Commissioner called yesterday, but I told him you went camping with the others.”

The younger Dick gasped and looked at the older Damian. “Dami! Can we go camping when we get back?”

Damian hesitated. “...Maybe.”

Batman interrupted before Damian could say anything else. “I won’t be able to hold the connection much longer. I trust that everyone knows what to do.” The screen fizzed for a moment before returning. “I am unsure if I will be able to connect again.” Batman looked at each of his children. “I will see all of you soon." 

“Bye!” The younger Dick waved, and the screen went black. He pouted for a moment, sad that his Bruce didn’t get the chance to say goodbye, but it quickly turned into a smile. He was going to go home soon! 

“Wow, he actually seemed a bit cheerier than you, B.” Older Dick commented. Bruce glared at him.

Meanwhile, the younger Tim was making his way over to the computer. “I don’t know about the rest of you guys, but I’m ready to go home.” He sat down in the empty chair and began typing. The older Tim and Damian soon joined him. The younger Dick and Jason tried to follow, but their Stephanie blocked the way.

“Hey, guys.” Stephanie smiled at them. “Why don’t you guys go upstairs and play?”

While Dick looked confused, Jason looked angry.

“Why? We can help!” Jason crossed his arms and glared at Stephanie.

“I know you can, but there’s really nothing for you to do. You’d be bored down here with nothing to do, so I thought you could go upstairs with Cass and play a game or watch a movie.”

Before the boys could say anything, they were interrupted by the older Dick. “I think that’s a great idea.” He walked over with a smile on his face, dragging the young Damian behind him. “Is it okay if we join you guys? We’ll just get in the way otherwise.” He sent a pointed look to Damian, who just scowled back at him.

The younger Jason narrowed his eyes at the older Dick. “You’d come up with us? You wouldn’t help them?”

“Staying down here would hinder them more than help.” Dick smirked. “The Batcave is crowded enough as it is with just my universe’s people. It’s practically cramped when we add your people.”

Jason was silent for a moment. “...Fine, but we’re gonna do what me and Dick wanna do.”

The older Dick laughed softly. “That’s fine with me.”

“-Tt-” Damian rolled his eyes. Knowing them, they’d want to play some childish game. Knowing Grayson, he’d be forced to play it too.

“I wanna play Batman and Robin!” The younger Dick grabbed Jason’s hand and started walking towards the elevator. “We always play Batman and Shadow, but in this universe, I was the first partner.” Dick beamed proudly.

His counterpart laughed louder as he followed, dragging Damian with him. “I’m up for another round, but I think I’ll be the villain this time if that’s okay with you guys.”

“Yeah!” The younger Dick turned to Jason. “Can I be Batman this time? You can be Robin!" 

Jason sighed, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to say no to Dick’s puppy dog eyes. “I guess…”

Dick cheered as they entered the elevator, brightening the Cave for just a moment.

When the ones who remained in the Cave thought back to that moment, they’d wish they had never sent him upstairs.

Chapter Text

Everyone in the Batcave was working on a way to send the others back when Older Dick’s emergency beacon went off. Worried as to why Dick would set it off inside the Manor, everyone raced to the elevator. Once again, they had to take multiple trips since they couldn’t fit everyone inside the elevator at once.

The first group had already run off, the sounds of glass breaking and kids screaming having drawn them away. The second group (Younger Tim, Younger Stephanie, and Older Stephanie) went to leave the study, but were stopped by Older Dick flying by the doorway. A loud crash sounded as he slammed into the wall.

“What the hell is going on?” the younger Tim asked with wide eyes. He and the older Stephanie went over to check on Dick while the younger Stephanie looked at the other end of the hall. She froze.

“Oh, shit.”

Three men made their way down the hallway, completely covered in armor. They wore birdlike masks that resembled...owls?

“The—The Court…” Dick coughed and struggled to stand.

“The what?” Tim asked.

Dick finally managed to stand and spit blood to the side. He clenched his fists. “I’ll tell you later. Right now, I need you to get something. Go back down to the Cave and go to the weapons vault. You’ll see a prototype gun inside that kinda looks like something Mr. Freeze would use. Grab that and come back up.”

“But—”

“Just do it! Hurry!” Dick ran off. He looked back. “Stephs, you guys are with me!

As the three confronted the owl-like men, the younger Tim ran back into the study and took the elevator back down to the Batcave.

“So who the hell are these people exactly?” Younger Stephanie asked.

“They’re called Talons. They’re basically immortal.” Dick surged forward, flipping over the Talon and swiping at it with his escrima sticks.

“Well shit.” The younger Stephanie dodged an attack while the older attacked the remaining Talon.

Meanwhile, Tim had found what Dick had asked for. He wasn’t really sure what they were going to do with it—why would they want to freeze the attackers? That didn’t really seem like Batman’s MO. He didn’t have time to think about it, however. He raced back to the elevator, only to freeze when the doors opened. A lone Talon stood there, holding the younger Dick in a chokehold in one arm and holding a blade to the younger Jason’s throat with the other.

Tim stared, unsure of what to do. He couldn’t use the gun he was holding—it would at least hurt Dick if Jason didn’t get caught in the blast. Jason and Dick were both staring at Tim with pleading eyes when the Talon moved forward.

“Move and I will not kill you. We are here for the Gray Son only.”

Tim only had a moment to wonder why they put a space in Dick’s last name before the Talon was knocking him down. Tim scrambled up and pointed the freeze gun at the man(?).

“How did you know?” If he distracted the Talon for long enough, maybe someone would come down and help him. “How did you know that he was here? You know he’s not this universe’s Richard Grayson.”

“Of course not, but we will always know what the Gray Son looks like. We saw him that day you took him and this one for ice cream.” The Talon gestured to Jason, who flinched when the knife pressed closer to his throat. “This one will do better than the original. More easy to mold.”

“Why do you want him?” A bead of sweat dripped down Tim’s temple. He was the smart one. He was supposed to be able to assess the situation and calculate how to get everyone out of it alive. He was scared though. He was faced with an enemy he hadn’t met in his universe (yet). Tim didn’t know the guy’s weaknesses. He didn’t know how he fought. The only weapon he had was the freeze gun and firing it could end with Dick and/or Jason getting hurt.

“He is the Gray Son of Gotham.” With that, the Talon moved the knife and stabbed Jason in his right shoulder (the objective part of Tim noted that the wound wasn’t fatal). Leaving the knife in, the Talon flung the boy at Tim, who instinctively dropped the gun and caught him.

“Shit!” Tim put Jason down as quickly and gently as possible and picked up the gun, but the Talon was gone.

Dick was gone.

Tim had let the monster take his brother.

“Oh god.” Tim wanted nothing more than to collapse to his knees, but he didn’t have time. Jason needed medical attention, and the others still needed help. He carefully picked up Jason and jogged over to the medbay, Jason crying out in pain whenever he was jostled too much. He laid Jason on the bed and paused.

What should he do first? He had to help Jason, but the wound wasn’t too bad at the moment, and the older Dick sounded urgent when he asked Tim to get the gun for him. What if getting the gun to Dick meant life or death?

Fortunately, the decision was made for Tim when the elevator doors opened again. Tim was worried it’d be of those guys, but it was just older Dick and Bruce being helped by the older members of their groups. They paused when they saw the younger Tim and Jason in the medbay.

“What happened?” The older Damian finished helping Bruce to one of the other beds and quickly made his way over to his brothers. He clenched his jaw when he saw the knife in Jason’s shoulder. He barked orders at Tim to gather gauze and antiseptic and worked on taking the knife out.

While they were doing that, the younger Stephanie was looking around in confusion. “Has anyone seen Dick? The younger one, I mean?”

Tim stiffened, which wasn’t missed by anyone.

“Tim?” Stephanie stepped closer, apprehension in her voice. “What’s wrong? Where’s Dick?”

Tim’s hands trembled. “They took him. That...Court or whatever. They took him.”

The older Damian sucked in a breath. Had it been a few years ago, he would have blown up on the teenager, but having Jason and Dick as younger siblings taught him to be calmer. Besides, he needed to stay calm in order to stitch up Jason’s shoulder.

Damian gritted his teeth. “What do you mean ‘they took him’?”

“I tried!” Tim whirled around, glaring at Damian with tears in his eyes. “I tried to stop the guy, but all I had was that stupid freeze gun, and Dick could have gotten hurt had I fired it!”

“Why did they take him?” Bruce was sitting up now, much to the older Dick’s protest. His eyes bore into the younger Tim’s.

“This—This whole attack was to get him. They saw them that day when the other me took Jason and Dick to get ice cream. They recognized him.” Everyone turned to look at Older Tim.

Said person was horrified. It was his fault that the younger Dick had been taken. He looked around at the others, stopping his pleading eyes on the older Damian. “I—I’m so sorry. I never would have taken them out if I had known. I took precautions—made sure they wore sunglasses and took them to a different town...” Tim trailed off, unsure of what else to say.

The younger Tim, meanwhile, was stuck on what the Talon had said to him before taking Dick. He looked to Bruce. “He—He said that Dick was...the ‘Gray Son of Gotham’? What does that mean?”

Bruce and Dick’s expressions immediately darkened. This was not good.

“...It’s a long story.” Dick sighed, looking so much older all of a sudden. “Just know that these guys are seriously dangerous. If they’re going to do what I think they’re going to do, then we need to get him back as soon as possible.”

Younger Dick’s siblings wanted to ask more questions, but they were tired and injured and they needed to come up with a plan. Questions could wait until later.

“All right.” Damian clenched his fists. He wasn’t happy about the situation, but he would do whatever it took to get Richard back. “What do you need us to do?”

Chapter Text

Dick groaned as he came back to consciousness. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter as he sat up and rubbed at his head. Wherever he was, it was really bright. While he waited for his eyes to adjust, he tried to think of the last thing he remembered. He remembered the owl man’s conversation with Tim, and then Jason was hurt…

God, Dick hoped Jason was okay.

Once his eyes adjusted, Dick opened his eyes and found himself in what looked like a hallway. It was completely made of stone (granite? marble?) and stark white—so bright it almost hurt his eyes. He could hear running water and decided that was the best place to start. Dick stood and began walking cautiously. He had no idea what those weird owl people wanted with him. He had heard something about the “Gray Son of Gotham,” but had no idea what that was about.

Eventually, he found his way to a fountain. It had a giant stone owl sitting on top of it, its beak spouting water and causing the noise Dick had heard. He couldn’t help but be intimidated by its size as it loomed over him. Dick glanced down at the pool of water, tempted to drink from it—he was kind of thirsty—but he had no idea if the water was drugged or poisoned or not. He decided he could wait and continued on. He didn’t want to be the owl’s blank gaze any longer than he had to be.

After walking for what felt like hours—days even (he wasn’t sure)—Dick wanted to collapse. There seemed to be no end to the maze. He had found his way back to the fountain several times. Each time he did, the urge to cry became more intense. At one point, he found himself in a room full of framed photos and a single old-looking camera sitting in the middle of it. He couldn’t help but look at some of the pictures but quickly looked away when he realized some of them were of Batman slowly going insane. Dick choked back a sob as he fled the room.

Red Hood, Red Robin, Batgirl, Black Bat, and Robin were sent out to all known hideouts of the Court of Owls to search for Dick. Batman and Nightwing stayed behind to explain what they knew about to the Court of Owls to the other dimension’s Batfamily minus Jason, who was currently knocked out from the pain medication.

“Why did they call him the ‘Gray Son of Gotham’?” Damian crossed his arms and glared at Batman.

The older Dick looked away. “We didn’t—We didn’t find this out until somewhat recently. My family—and Haly’s Circus—was not what I thought it was. Apparently, the circus had been a front for years, breeding and training children for the Court to take and mold into soldiers.” God, it still hurt so much to say. The betrayal still felt fresh. “My great-grandfather was from Gotham and joined Haly’s circus when he was young. After traveling with the circus, he returned to Gotham and began a relationship with a wealthy woman, scandalous since he was poor and this was the early 1900s. She became pregnant but was forced to leave him and marry her cousin, fabricating the story that the baby was his and not Cobb’s. He was asked to join the Talons, which he accepted, and became their soldier, a weapon to use to hurt others in order to hold power over Gotham. He later stole his son and gave him to Haly’s, telling them to raise him to become a Talon. He called his son the ‘Gray Son of Gotham’, a child between the worlds of the poor and the wealthy—the gray area. That’s—That’s where my last name came from.”

Stephanie was close to tears. She knew how proud Dick was of his name—how much he loved his parents. To find out his whole life had basically been a lie…The image of her little brother, her bright and happy little brother, becoming one of those things popped into her mind, horrifying her. That would have been his fate had his family not died and Bruce not taken him in. She looked over and saw the fury on the rest of her family’s faces. She knew they were having similar thoughts.

“So they intend to make him one of their own?” Damian asked, barely able to keep the anger out of his voice.

Bruce and Dick nodded.

“How do they do it?” Tim asked, a look of contemplation on his face.

“Yeah, didn’t you say they were basically immortal?” Stephanie chimed in.

“Their wounds did not bother them. They healed.” Cass added, looking disturbed.

“They have a formula that stops the person from aging and greatly increases their healing factor so that they heal almost immediately. They can die, but their bodies heal and they wake up just hours, sometimes minutes, later.” Bruce’s expression was dark as he spoke. “The only way to truly stop them is to lower their body temperature. Too low, and they cannot move.”

“That’s why you wanted me to get that freeze gun.” Tim looked over at Dick, who nodded.

Batman’s comm suddenly crackled. Red Robin spoke.

“Nothing here, Batman. It looks like no one’s been to these hideouts in months, maybe years.”

“Understood. Has anyone else found anything?”

Batgirl answered. “Nada, B. It’s dusty as all hell in these places.”

Batman frowned. “Red Hood? Robin? Black Bat?”

Each replied with their own variation of a ‘no’. Bruce clenched his jaw.

“Keep searching around the city. I’m sure that they have more places than we have found.” Batman turned off his comm and looked over at the rest of them. “I was...hoping it wouldn’t come down to this. It’s a long shot. I expected them to move it knowing that I know where it is, but it’s the only other place I can think of that they could have brought him too.”

“What place?” Damian demanded.

“They have a labyrinth. They send some of their victims in there to drive them insane before the Talon kills them. The water in there is drugged, and it is difficult to find the exit. If it’s still there, and Dick is in it, we need to get him out quickly. If they did decide to put him in there, they most likely blocked off the entrance I know of and are either using another one or built in another one. They wouldn’t put him in there knowing I could find him easily.”

“Tell us where this labyrinth is.” Damian growled. He was growing impatient.

“It’s in the sewers” Batman leveled a glare at Damian. “We will go there together. You are still not fully prepared to deal with the Talons by yourselves. I’ll have Red Hood and Black Bat join us.”

Everyone was about to leave when a call came in on the Batcomputer. The other Batman was on the screen.

“I’m calling the get an update on your progress.” The other Batman noted the grim expressions on everyone’s face, hardening his own. “What happened.”

“Father.” Damian took a step forward but hesitated. How was he supposed to tell him that Richard had been taken? “The Manor was attacked, and...Richard was taken while we were distracted.”

Batman’s eyes widened before narrowing as he began typing on his computer. “I’m coming over there. Have you figured out the coordinates yet?”

Bruce was about to answer ‘no’ when Tim cut him off. “Um...yeah.” He bit his lip, avoiding everyone as they turned to stare at him. “I had gotten really close and had basically figured it out when we got the alert about the attack. I was going to wait until we got Dick back to tell you.”

The other Batman nodded. “Good. Tim, put in the coordinates. I’m going to tell Alfred to be prepared for my return and then I’ll be over there.”

“Yes, sir.” Tim nodded, shooting a nervous look at this world’s Batman, and ran over to the zeta tubes. He typed in what seemed like a long list of numbers before the zeta tube lit up. There was about 30 seconds of tense silence, minus the buzzing of the zeta tube, before a figure stepped through. The other Batman immediately stormed over to Bruce and leaned in, growling.

“Take me to my son.”

Bruce was silent for a moment, his narrowed eyes sizing up the other Batman, before nodding.

“Let’s go.”

Hours? Days? Weeks?

Not minutes.

Not seconds.

Dick was so thirsty.

He finally gave in and took a small sip from the fountain, the owl’s gaze looking triumphant at his weakness, but Dick figured he was just going insane. He was slowly losing the ability to care.

After a few minutes, Dick figured out that the water was drugged. People he knew lined the labyrinth as he walked, spewing hate and accusations.

“You’re weak!”

“Unwanted!”

“How could you let us die?”

Dick slapped his hands over his ears, trying to block out their voices, but he could still clearly hear them inside his head. Tears escaped from his eyes as he ran, trying to escape the hallucinations.

“Why would Father want you? He already has the rest of us. You don’t belong with us. We don’t want you.”

Dick let out a cry at Damian’s words. He knew his family loved him very much, but sometimes he still wondered. Bruce already had so many children. Why would he want him?

“Why didn’t you take my hand, my little robin? We could have been together.” His mami’s soft voice stopped him in his tracks. He knew it wasn’t real. He did. He should keep going.

“We miss you so much, baby.” He hadn’t seen his mami’s face in what felt like forever. Already, it was starting to fade from his mind. The person standing in front of him was clear as day.

Everybody was there. His parents, his aunt, his uncle, his cousin. Dick’s legs shook as he stared at them longingly. He wanted to go over to them, feel their embrace as they converged on him and smothered him with their warmth. It was cold in the Manor compared to what he had before.

“Please.” Dick whispered, squeezing his eyes shut and collapsing to his knees. “Please leave me alone.”

“Oh, little robin, don’t you know?” He couldn’t see his mami, but he knew she was smiling—whether it was a warm smile or not was another question. “You are alone. You had a family, but you let us die. You didn’t warn us about the man messing with the wires, baby. And now you’re being punished. You can make it all go away though.”

Dick opened his eyes to see his mami kneeling in front of him. He tried to back away, but she grabbed his chin, squeezing hard enough to cause pain (it wasn’t real but it felt real). His breath hitched. “H-How?”

His mami smiled, releasing his chin to cup his cheek. “Join us, baby. Then, we’ll be a family again. You won’t have to suffer the loneliness anymore.”

Tears poured down the sides of his cheeks. He knew what his mami was asking of him. Logically, he knew his mami would never want him to do that, but the logical part of his brain had been suppressed by the drugs.

“H-How do I do that?” Stop. Stop asking.

His mami looked over to the owl on the fountain, which Dick hadn’t realized he had wandered back to again. Its eyes glared down at him from very high up.

“There’s only one way you can truly be with us again, baby.” She looked back at him, staring into his eyes. She whispered. “Fall, my little robin. Fall.”

Dick’s breath hitched once more, threatening to send him into a panic attack. He had frequent nightmares about the way his parents had died. He often dreamed of falling with them or his new family falling as well. To die like that was his worst nightmare.

Stopstopstopstopstopstopstop—

The rational part of his brain was screaming, but he couldn’t hear it over the pleas of his family—both of them. They begged him to jump, one to join them and one to free them. Dick looked around at their faces as they came closer. Soon, they were practically on top of him, yelling for him to do it—FALLFALLFALL.

He screamed.

Silence.

Blissful silence.

He opened his eyes to see only his mami still there, still kneeling in front of him. He stared at her, his eyes blank. He had finally snapped.

“Okay.”

Chapter Text

Tears fell silently from Dick’s eyes as he climbed up the granite owl. Everyone he loved was below him, chanting for him to fall. He reached the top and stood, looking out over the fountain room. Dick bit his lip and hesitated.

Was he really going to do this?

“We’re waiting for you, baby.”

Yes, he was.

Dick took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and jumped. For a moment, he could feel the wind flying through his hair, and he could almost pretend he was just soaring through Gotham. But then, it suddenly stopped. Dick’s eyes flew open as arms snatched him from the air. He looked up as they landed on the ground and saw the owl man. He whimpered.

“Please. Please no.” Dick whispered. “Let me be with them.”

“You are ready.” The Talon ignored him. As he carried him to what Dick hoped was the exit to the labyrinth, his family faded from sight. He looked back at the owl man.

“What are you going to do to me?” He asked quietly. “Why are you doing this to me?”

The Talon looked down at the boy. Dick couldn’t tell what the man (or woman—Dick wasn’t sure) was thinking since his face was completely covered by the owl mask. “You are the Gray Son of Gotham. You are destined to be the Talon.”

Dick’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why do you separate my last name like that?”

The Talon didn’t answer him. He was taken back to the room with the pictures, where a man cowered in the corner. The Talon put Dick down and handed him a knife.

“Kill him.” Dick’s head snapped to the owl man.

“W-What? No!” Dick would have thrown the knife aside in defiance, but it was currently his only defense.

Dick was suddenly slammed into the wall, the owl man’s hand around his throat. Dick choked and clawed at the strong grip with his free hand.

“You will kill this man, Gray Son, or feel pain. It is your choice.”

Dick’s eyes watered as he struggled to breathe. He didn’t want to kill someone. It was wrong, and Bruce would hate him if he did it. Black spots danced in front of his eyes as he made a snap decision. He slammed the knife into the arm holding him. The shock that the boy actually got a hit in was enough to cause the Talon to drop the boy. Dick scrambled away towards the pictures of Batman.

The Talon ripped the knife from his arm. “A good start.” He threw the knife back to Dick, who cowered away from it. “Kill the man.”

Said man whimpered in the corner as Dick cried silently. His breath hitched as the owl man stalked toward him and lifted him by the front of his shirt. “Kill the man or feel pain.”

“I—I won’t do it!” Dick shouted as he struggled to get out of the man’s grip.

“Very well.” The Talon grabbed Dick’s wrist with his free hand. He grabbed Dick by his bicep and thrust his arm down as his knee came up. Dick screamed as his arm snapped, causing the man in the corner to cry out and put his hands over his ears. The Talon flung Dick into the corner. His face smashed into the wall, and he felt another snap—his cheekbone had been broken. He crumpled to the floor.

“You will kill the man.” The Talon drew another knife and marched over to Dick. “You will kill the man or feel more pain.”

“Please.” Dick sobbed. “Please stop.”

“Very well.” The knife was plunged into Dick’s thigh, and Dick wailed. Agony tore through Dick’s cheek with each sob.

“Kill the man.” Dick tried to crawl away from the man, not even bothering to take the knife out of his leg. He sobbed as another knife was lodged into the calf of his other leg.

“Kill the man.”

“GET AWAY FROM MY SON!”

Could it be? Dick raised his head slowly, just managing to see Batman launch himself at the Talon. Others raced into the room, but Dick could barely focus on them. He did, however, notice that there were two Batmen in the room.

“Tati?” He whispered. His Damian, the other Damian, Nightwing, Red Hood, and the other Batman joined the first Batman as the others raced over to him, minus the other Black Bat and Tim, who ran over to the cowering man.

“Jesus.” His Tim—currently Redbat—breathed as he took in Dick’s injuries. Dick whimpered. Tim carefully picked up the boy and held him bridal style, trying not to jostle him too much.

“Get him out of here.” The second Batman growled as he fought the Talon. Redbat, Spoiler, Kid Bat, and his Blackbat ran from the room, taking him to another room filled with coffins. Dick cried out in fear in his delirious state, believing he was hallucinating again.

“No! No more!”

“Shhh.” Stephanie tried to soothe the boy. His head rolled towards her. “We’re gonna get you outta here, and then we’re gonna go home. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

Dick just moaned in reply. He was getting tired.

“Sweetie, I need you to stay awake.” They were out of the maze now and in the sewers. Tim climbed out of the nearest manhole and took Dick back as Stephanie passed him up.

“Dick? Hey, look at me.” Dick looked up at Tim with bleary eyes. “Can you stay awake long enough to hold on to me? We’re taking a ‘cycle back.”

Dick sniffled. “My arm…”

Tim looked down and cursed. There was no way Dick would be able to hold on to him safely with a broken arm.

“We can put him between us. I’ll drive.” Stephanie hopped onto the motorcycle. Tim wanted to argue but decided against it. Now was not the time. He climbed on behind Stephanie, making sure that Dick was snug between them without agitating his injuries too much.

The last thing Dick remembered was feeling the wind in his hair as Tim begged him not to pass out.

The sounds of someone snoring woke Dick up slowly. For a moment, Dick couldn’t remember where he was, but quickly recognized the rocky ceiling of the Cave. He tilted his head to the side, biting back a cry of pain as pressure was put on his cheek. His Jason was curled up in a chair, snoring away. Bruce was standing a ways away, arguing with...Bruce?

Dick gasped softly, causing the two men’s heads to snap towards him. “Tati?”

His Bruce’s—his father’s— face broke out into a relieved smile. “Dick.” He quickly made his way over to the bed and sat on it, taking the hand of Dick’s well arm.

Tears sprung to Dick’s eyes as his lip wobbled. “Tati!” He flung himself at the man, not caring about the pain it caused his injuries. His Bruce’s arms wrapped around him carefully. “Tati, I missed you!”

“I missed you too.” Bruce murmured. The other Bruce had mysteriously disappeared, presumably to them some privacy. Jason still hadn’t woken up.

“Was it—Was it lonely?” Dick asked, unsure of what to say.

“Very much so.” Bruce smiled. “Alfred missed all of you so much.”

“I wanna go home.” Bruce’s heart broke at the desperation in his son’s voice.

“Soon, Dick. Soon. You need to heal some before going through the zeta tube.” With how weak he was, the interdimensional travel could kill him. He wasn’t going to say that out loud though.

Dick sniffled and wiped at his nose. “The owl man?”

“Dealt with.” Bruce’s face was grim. The Talon had been transferred to Blackgate on ice. If things went well, which it basically never did, the Talon would be frozen for a long time.

“Is everyone okay?” Dick would never forgive himself if someone got hurt trying to rescue him.

“Everyone’s fine. Sleeping mostly, as you can tell.” Bruce nodded over to Jason with a smirk, causing Dick to giggle. A yawn cut him off, causing Bruce to chuckle.

“Go to sleep, chum.”

“Stay?” Dick asked, his voice growing softer.

“Of course. And just in case I’m not enough, the older you gave me this.” Bruce held up a stuffed elephant.

Dick’s eyes lit up. “Zitka!” Bruce put the elephant in Dick’s good arm. Dick held the elephant tightly and drifted off to sleep. Bruce smiled softly and gently ran his fingers through the boy's hair.

He had his children back safely within his reach, the man who had taken his son had been dealt with, and they would all be going home soon.

Everything was good.

Chapter Text

Once Dick was well enough, he was moved to one of Bruce’s safehouses. They were all worried that the Court of Owls would attack again to take him back. His family stayed with him, and he was also visited quite often by the other Batfamily.

Dick was just happy that his Bruce was there with him.

Sure, he left sometimes to discuss things with the other Bruce, but he always came back as soon as he could. He and the rest of the family played games with Dick—mostly board games since he was still injured. Jason was still injured too, which Dick reprimanded him for. How could he go out and rescue Dick when his shoulder had been stitched up just hours before? Jason had just told him that he had had worse and had threatened both Bruces with following them and potentially getting even more injured or lost in the other Gotham. He told Dick that he’d do anything for him because Dick would do the same.

Dick didn’t argue after that.

He woke up one night at the sound of voices. He turned his head slowly towards the cracked-open door, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. Bruce and Dami were talking.

“How much longer will it be until it is safe enough to bring him back?” Damian asked. Most people wouldn’t be able to catch it, but Dick could tell that Damian was worried.

“A few more days. I just want to make sure. I can’t have him be so close to making it home only for the transport to go wrong.”

“He’s not safe here.” Damian growled.

“I know.” Bruce sighed. “I’ve been talking to the other Batman. There’s been a lot of sightings of Talons.”

“They’re looking for him.”

“They won’t find him.” Bruce snapped. “As long as you all stay here. It’s fine for me to go out—I can pretend to be this universe’s Bruce Wayne—but the Court knows what you all look like, and they know you don’t belong. Even I can’t go out very often. It’ll become suspicious for Bruce Wayne to be in this area so often.”

There was silence for a moment before Damian spoke. “You have three days. If you try to put it off any longer, I will take him home myself. He is healing, and he is strong. He’ll make it.”

Dick heard Damian stalk off as Bruce sighed again. He squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head back, wanting to go back to sleep. He didn’t want to think about the owl man—Talon—and how others were looking for him. He had tried to get Bruce to explain to him why the Talon had gone after him, but Bruce always said that he would tell him later. It frustrated him—and scared him. Why was so bad about the reason that Bruce refused to tell him?

Dick eventually drifted off into a fitful sleep, dreaming of the owl man killing him and his family.

Bruce was out again, and Dick was just about to die of boredom. His siblings weren’t far behind.

“At least there’s cable here.” Stephanie sighed as she flipped through the channels.

“And books.” Though Tim was going through them pretty quickly.

“You think Bruce could bring back ice cream?” Jason asked, pouting.

“Maybe.” Stephanie answered. “We could always put Dick on the phone. Bruce pretty much never says no to him.”

The burner phone the other Bruce had given them suddenly went off. Damian answered.

“Father? What—” Shouting cut Damian off, who put the phone on speaker.

“Get out of there now!”

“Bruce?” Everyone stood, alert. Cass picked Dick up and held him tightly, ready to run.

“They know you’re there! They’re on their way! Go!” There was a flurry of movement as essentials were grabbed—utility belts, shoes, etc. Dick cried out as Cass made her way to the door.

“Wait! Zitka!” He had left the elephant on the couch.

“He’ll be fine. The others can grab him later.” Damian tried to reassure Dick, but Dick struggled.

“No! I promised the bigger me that I’d take care of him! What if the Talons hurt him?” There were tears in Dick’s eyes.

“I got him!” Jason was over by the couch, holding the stuffed elephant up. The windows behind him became dark with shadows.

“Jason, move!” Damian launched himself over the boy, who shrieked at the sight of the shadows and scrambled towards the front door. Glass flew everywhere as the Talons burst through the windows. Damian began to engage with two of the Talons.

“Get him out of here!” Damian shouted, not daring to look away from his opponents. Stephanie and Tim joined him while Cass ran out the door with Jason quickly following. Dick yelled for his brothers and sister, but Cass shushed him.

“They will be okay.” She said. Dick buried his face in her shoulder.

In the hallway, Cass didn’t even try for the stairs or elevator. Instead, she kicked in a door and ran through, shouting a “Sorry!” at the screaming couple. Jason quickly opened the window for her, wincing when it aggravated his shoulder, and they climbed through onto the fire escape. Cass got out a grappling gun and shot it at the next roof. “Grab on!”

Jason wrapped his arms around Cass, and they shot off. They hopped from roof to roof, only to be confronted by more Talons.

“Go!” Cass set Dick down by Jason and handed him the grappling gun.

“But—”

“GO!” Cass pushed Jason gently and blocked a hit aimed at her head. She took on the Talon as Jason shot the grappling gun and took off with Dick. They took to the streets, trying to blend in with the crowds.

Dick was crying quietly. “Are—Are they going to be okay?”

Jason, whose good arm was wrapped around Dick and trying to help him walk, tightened his hold gently. “Yeah. Yeah. They’ll be okay.” Jason suddenly realized he was somehow still holding Zitka and handed the elephant to Dick. “Here. Hold him. Zitka and I will protect you, okay? Everyone’s gonna be fine, and we’ll go home, but we gotta make it to the Manor first.”

Dick sniffled and took the stuffed animal gratefully. They were walking by an alleyway when they were suddenly yanked in. They both opened their mouths to scream, but they were quickly covered.

“Shh! It’s just me!” They both looked up to see a man wearing a red helmet that completely covered his head. Dick blinked, recognizing the voice.

“Jmhmn?” The man let go of Dick’s mouth, and Dick repeated his question. “Jason?”

“Yeah, kid.” The older Jason hefted the two kids into his arms and ran down the alleyway, where his motorcycle was waiting. He placed the younger Jason and Dick in front of him with Dick in the middle. He revved the engine and sped off, zigzagging through the alleys.

“Heads up!” Jason—Red Hood—yelled as shadows appeared around them. Jason made a sharp turn to the right and accelerated. The Talons followed.

“Man, these bastards really want you.” Jason took a few more turns and was soon met with an approaching chain-link fence.

Jason didn’t slow down.

“Hey. Hey!” The younger Jason cried out. The older didn’t answer. The younger Jason and Dick screamed when Jason pressed a button. He turned the bike again and was suddenly riding up the wall. He launched the motorcycle off the wall and over the fence, landing roughly but managing to stay upright.

The younger Jason let out a breath and looked back at the fence as they zoomed away. He let out a whoop of delight. “Yeah! That was awesome!”

The older Jason couldn’t help but chuckle, though seeing a younger version of him so happy still made him feel a bit bitter. He put a hand up to his helmet.

“I got the kiddies. Meeting back at the Cave.”

There were a few other run-ins with the Talons on the way to the Batcave, but a hero always managed to come out of nowhere and fend them off while Jason escaped with the kids. Unfortunately, the Cave wasn’t much safer when they arrived to it. Batfamily members from both universes were fighting Talons, trying to keep them away from the younger Tim, who was setting up the coordinates, and the zeta tube. A Talon immediately tried to jump Jason while another made a grab for Dick, but Dick just barely managed to hop off the bike and dance out of the way. The younger Jason followed and immediately put himself in front of Dick.

“How much longer?” Dick’s Stephanie shouted to Tim.

“Give me a minute! I’m almost done!” Tim typed some more before the zeta tube lit up.

“Form a circle around the zeta tube. Don’t let them through.” Batman ordered. Nobody was sure which Batman it was. Everyone made their way to the zeta tube as quickly as they could while fighting the Talons. The younger Dick and Jason were already by the tube, ready to go in when ordered.

“Richard, go!” The older Damian shouted. Dick was about to step through when the younger Tim sprinted for the zeta tube. He stumbled and fell, revealing a knife in his back.

“Timmy!” Dick made to move toward him, but Damian grabbed him and threw him into the zeta. “NO!”

Everything was blue for a moment before Dick tumbled out. Alfred—his Alfred—rushed forward and helped him up.

“My word, Master Dick. Are you all right?” Dick broke down into tears

“Timmy’s hurt! I hafta go back!” Dick tried to turn around, but Alfred held him.

“I am sure he will be fine. It’s dangerous for you to go back there though.”

“But Alfred—”

“No buts.” Alfred gently settled his hands on Dick’s shoulders. “Master Tim is strong. He will be fine.”

Dick was about to protest again when the zeta tube lit up, and Jason tumbled out. One by one, Dick’s siblings materialized in the tube. Dick waited anxiously for Tim to show up, gripping Jason’s hand tightly. Finally, Tim stumbled through and was quickly caught by Stephanie. Damian and Bruce soon came through, and Bruce shouted to Alfred.

“Turn it off!” Alfred raced over to the Batcomputer and quickly put in the commands to shut down the zeta tube. It powered down, and there was silence.

Suddenly, Dick burst into tears and launched himself at Alfred. He wrapped his good arm around the butler’s legs and buried his face in his thigh. “I missed you, Alfred. I missed home.”

“And I you, Master Dick.” Alfred kneeled and wrapped his arms around the boy. Dick suddenly gasped and let go, racing over to Tim.

“Timmy! Is he okay?” Dick asked worriedly. Stephanie hefted up the teen, who raised his head and smiled tiredly at Dick.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m good. We should probably bandage my back though.”

Stephanie and Cass dragged Tim over to the medbay and laid him on his stomach. Stephanie got to work on his back while Dick went over to Bruce.

“Are the other us gonna be okay? We left them to fight the owl men alone.” Bruce kneeled down and settled a hand on Dick’s shoulder.

“They’ll be fine.”

“They are us after all.” Damian smirked at Dick. “Though we are still better.”

Dick giggled. He wrapped his good arm around Bruce’s neck and buried his face in the man’s neck. He yawned, exhausted by the day’s events, and closed his eyes. He felt Bruce pick him up and carry him up to his room. Bruce tucked him in and ran a hand through Dick’s hair. Dick sighed happily.

He had never felt safer.

In the Other Universe:

“Well, that wasn’t fun.” Dick sighed as he helped to clean up the mess in the Cave.

“When is fighting a bunch of practically immortal assassins ever fun?” Tim asked sarcastically.

Jason snorted. “Ohhh, we got a sassy one here, boys.”

Dick rolled his eyes but stopped when he noticed something sitting by the zeta tube. He walked over to it, curious, before a smile lit up his face.

“Hey!” Dick grinned as he held up his stuffed elephant. Jason and Damian scoffed while Tim quirked an eyebrow. “Welcome home, buddy!" Dick made his way over to his motorcycle. "I'm gonna return this little guy home to my apartment. I'll be back later to finish cleanup. See you later!"

Before the others could protest, Dick was gone. They all narrowed their eyes at his escape before looking at each other. Tim was the first to speak.

"Just this once, we put aside our differences and team up to get revenge on him for ditching us?" Jason and Damian smirked.

"Oh, big time." Jason grinned and cracked his fingers. "Let's get planning."